Regional

2:35 pm

Mon July 14, 2014

Bill Would Speed Deportations Of Central American Children

Two Texas lawmakers are teaming up on a bill to speed removals of the unaccompanied Central American kids who've been arriving by the tens of thousands at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The legislation by Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, would allow Border Patrol agents to turn many of the kids around quickly at the border.

Under current law, the youths stay here while awaiting an eventual hearing in the backlogged immigration court system, something that can keep them in this country for years.

Of more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors who've arrived at the border since October, only 1,254 had been returned home as of the end of June, according to a law enforcement official who spoke anonymously to discuss confidential data.

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